Pavel Durov Sounds Alarm Over the Erosion of Digital Freedom

Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov, has issued a stark warning about what he sees as a global campaign to dismantle the open internet.

In a birthday message shared on X, the 41-year-old tech entrepreneur said that governments once seen as protectors of liberty are quietly replacing digital freedom with systems of control.

According to Durov, policies such as mandatory digital IDs in the UK, age verification rules in Australia, and the EU’s plan to scan private messages reveal how privacy is being sacrificed in the name of safety. He described the trend as a “rapid slide toward a dystopian future,” warning that this generation could be the last to enjoy a truly free web.

Critics across Europe have raised similar concerns over the proposed “Chat Control” law, arguing that forcing encrypted apps to inspect private messages would destroy secure communication and set a dangerous precedent for state surveillance.

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For Durov, the issue extends beyond messaging platforms. He sees the tightening grip of regulators as part of a broader loss of autonomy — one that threatens free speech, financial sovereignty, and even the values that once defined liberal democracies. “We’ve been made to believe that privacy and independence are outdated,” he wrote, calling this belief a path toward “moral and intellectual collapse.”

His remarks come months after a tense encounter with French authorities, who detained him as part of an investigation into illegal activity on Telegram. Although the company later clarified how it cooperates with law enforcement, Durov insists that Telegram will never become a tool for surveillance.

The Telegram founder has long promoted decentralization as the antidote to control — a principle also reflected in blockchain technology and projects like TON. In his view, preserving privacy and open communication isn’t just a matter of technology, but of defending the last frontier of personal freedom in the digital age.